Annette is over at
Just My Little Piece of the World. First you gotta go over and see her reply to my complaints about Obama. She's a big Obama supporter. I am a big critic, wanting Obama to do more. After you see what she wrote, you gotta come back and see my reply to her reply. Here is my reply:
OK, you see the glass half full. That's a legitimate position to take. I see it half empty and I and my "radical lefty friends" have a lot of hope and idealistic aspirations for this presidency. He has important accomplishments.
But it drives me nuts that he can't see that the Republicans have no intention of cooperating on health care reform. They haven't voted with him on anything important. The process isn't nearly as important as the result, and the Republicans have stated clearly they want to destroy his presidency. Health care is a life and death issue. No small thing.
The Dems went along like sheep with Bush tax cuts and war. Bush wouldn't put up with non-cooperation from Democrats. Obama needs a little more of Bush-style cracking the whip.
BTW I was thoroughly offended with the remarks of THEMOM: "We need to keep reiterating the "facts" to those who want to twist and spin the acts to date of this administration. There are days I get so aggreavated arguing these same issues with the ignorant." That's what she wrote up there.
I'll tell you what's ignorant. Those morons who believe in Death Panels and Killing Gramma and Health Care for illegal Aliens and Government funded Abortions and Watering the Tree of Liberty and all that crap.
I am dealing with facts. Obama has ignored Bush era War Crimes serious enough to warrant the death penalty for Nazis and Japanese officers alike after WWII. That's a fact. I am far from ignorant. And to ignore such serious violations of our Constitution and our national history on this issue is dangerous to future generations. Why didn't he go after at least John Yoo immediately? And maybe work his way up to Cheney and Bush. These people are classic examples of war criminals. You can't sweep it under the carpet. Do you know at least a hundred men died under torture by the CIA during the Bush era? I am not proud of that. And hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in Iraq.
Obama is embroiled in wars that will do nothing but drain more treasure and bring home more bodies. He needs to show that it is important to bring those wars to an end. We can't afford them. They are his Vietnam. I am not especially surprised that he has not moved more aggressively to end these wars. I am disappointed that he has not done so. I will also not be surprised that both of them will end like Vietnam, with nothing accomplished except the creation of more families without fathers and husbands and sons. Read "Johnny Got His Gun," by Dalton Trumbo.
You can say all you like about Obama's inheritance of the economic bailout from Bush, but the fact is, Obama endorsed the biggest bank robbery in American history. Hank Paulson, Treasury Secretary was CEO of Goldman Sachs and he threatened the government with collapse of the entire economy if Congress didn't immediately turn $700 billion over to him to do as he pleased, and they did. And he gave $14 billion to Goldman, And Goldman ended up posting a gigantic profit and distributing $18 billion in bonuses to its employees. This was typical of the bailout. Big bucks for Wall Street, CitiBank, B of A and the rest and they turned around and hiked interest rates on credit cards.
Meanwhile, we have near Depression-era unemployment and people still losing their homes by the millions. Over 8 million foreclosures are expected in 2009. That is a national disaster. Where is help for the little guy?--homeowners and credit card holders?
I just want Obama to show some spine and some leadership. I am not alone. Dr. Howard Dean seems to believe that Obama needs to take the Blue Dogs to the woodshed. Seriously, if Congress comes out with a weak health care plan, that's it. The rest of the Obama Presidency is lame duck. The Republicans will have accomplished what they set out to do--make it his Waterloo. That's what they want. And the Republicans will capture the House next year and Obama will be a one term president. Is that what you want? Of course it is not what you or I want.
None of us wants to see a bunch of ignoramuses like Chuck Grassley or Mike Enzi or Tom Price or John Boehner or Tom Coburn running Congress. These guys are idiots, liars, greedy sons of bitches who would sell out their own mothers for political or economic advantage. I detest Republican politicians and their stupid philosophy of every man for himself and to hell with children and old people. That is why I am so passionate about wanting Obama to stomp these people into the ground. They need to be destroyed, politically.
Democrats have the White House. They have the Senate. They have the House. They should now all act as if they are the majority party and get some important work done for the people in this country.
And I haven't even mentioned the Union Card Check Employee Free Choice Act, which Obama is allowing to die a slow death in Congress because the corporations want it dead. Don't get me started, Annette.
Oh wait, you already did.
From the Huffingtonpost:
